Category: Action

Elevation

2024   Vertical Entertainment

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  31min

Action ~ Sci-Fi ~ Suspense

Directed by:   George Nolfi

Starring:   Anthony Mackie, Morena Baccarin, and Maddie Hasson.

“Don’t go down without a fight.”

The Synopsis from The Official Movie Website:

The world has changed. The only habitable place left for humanity is in the high mountains, above 8000 feet. Below 8000 feet dwell the creatures that killed 95% of the human population less than three years ago. To save the life of his young son, a father (Anthony Mackie) is forced to venture below “The Line” with a scientist (Morena Baccarin) he despises, but who just might hold the key to defeating the monsters, and a young woman (Maddie Hasson) determined to keep them both alive long enough to save the human race.

Thoughts and Questions:

It is very similar to the A Quiet Place Movies. In Elevation the creatures came up from below the ground. In A Quiet Place they came from the sky.

In A Quiet Place the creatures destroy anything that makes a sound and humans make all the noise. In Elevation the creatures destroy humans who seem to make all the noise. Later in the movie we see wild horses everywhere, why aren’t they destroyed by the creatures?

Nina (Morena Baccarin) the scientist explains, “The creatures have CO2 sensors and track humans. They never sleep, they never eat, it seems their sole purpose is to track humans and kill them. I think it is divine retribution for man’s evil ways.” Don’t the animals give off CO2 as well?  Yes, but it seems again that this is Divine Retribution for Man’s Evil Ways and only Humans are targeted for extermination.

In A Quiet Place The Abbott family quietly venture into town for supplies and medicines they need and in Elevation Will, Nina and Katie venture down from the mountain for supplies and the medicine Will needs to keep his son alive.

In A Quiet Place the creatures were called Death Angels, in Elevation they are referred to as Reapers. Both sound like Divine Retribution names.

  • Why 8000 feet?

What happens between 7999 feet and 8000 feet that the creatures can’t cross the white rocks that were placed at the 8000 feet mark to mark the line the creatures can’t cross? As we see later in the movie the creatures are machines and not living creatures. Again, according to Nina the Scientist, “It is in their programming, they can’t cross into any altitude above 8000 feet. They were programmed to wipe out humanity. Divine Retribution for Man’s wicked ways.”

  • The Creature’s Weakness:

In the A Quiet Place Movies, the creatures weakness is found. Death by a high frequency that blows their eardrums and head apart. In Elevation Nina discovers that bullets coated with Cobalt trigger an electric charge that causes the Reapers to implode rather violently.

I couldn’t find any information that alludes to Elevation being a prequel to A Quiet Place: Day One. But at the end of the movie right after the credits start rolling there is a scene where Will and Nina are looking up at the sky through a telescope and see something coming down from the sky, very similar to the beginning of A Quiet Place: Day One.

My Recommendation:

I liked it, although I don’t think I would watch it again. Just not that memorable. It was good enough to hold my interest, although at times it seemed a bit slow or forced. At an hour and a half it went really quick though. So yes it’s worth a watch, just a one-off though. More like a B Sci-Fi movie than the Blockbuster The A Quiet Place Movies were.

THE ORDER

2024   Amazon MGM Studios

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  55min

Action ~ Drama ~ Suspense

Directed by:  Justin Kurzel

Starring:  Jude Law,  Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, Alison Oliver, and Marc Maron.

“Defeat…..NEVER……..Victory………FOREVER!”

Here is the synopsis from The Order Movie’s Official Website:

For over a year, a series of bold daylight bank robberies and armored car heists leaves law enforcement baffled and the public panicked throughout the Pacific Northwest. As the attacks become increasingly violent, FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) becomes convinced that the robberies are the work of domestic terrorists that plan to use the loot to finance an armed uprising against the U.S. government.

Based on a true story, The Order follows Husk and his team into the tangled world of white supremacists as they try to head off a violent uprising that could shatter the nation. As the militia builds a war chest of over $4 million, Husk pursues the malevolent racist Bob Mathews to a final bloody standoff that will go down in U.S. history.

Here’s what I think about that:

An absolutely horrifying look inside the workings and the mindset of a group of White Supremacists. It is also a deeper look into their beliefs and their Manifesto/Bible/Handbook The Turner Diaries. A 1978 novel by William Luther Pierce, the founder and chairman of National Alliance, a white nationalist group, published under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald. And also their willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve their aims, even murder.

In a nutshell The Turner Diaries advocates extreme violence by any means necessary to achieve the means to overthrow the US Government. Then inciting a race war and ethnically cleansing America of any non-white peoples. Then using America’s Nuclear weapons on New York and Israel, allowing Arab countries to destroy what is left of Israel and the Israeli people. Then nuking Russia so a Russia-America Nuclear war destroys Americas cities and world civilization. To then be replaced by The All White Order.

There is a reckoning they call “The Day of The Rope” where the non-whites and anyone who has helped or aided them are all hanged in a single day. I recall the images of The Jan. 6th riots at the Capitol and seeing a platform with three rope nooses ready for the Vice President, Pelosi, etc.

Jesus…..this is very scary shit. Is America the new Germany? Is someone recently voted into power the new Adolf Hitler? Seriously….this is horrifying stuff. Not for the faint at heart. Some of you should just turn off the TV and go back to working in your gardens.

Here’s what I thought about the movie:

I thought it was good. Lots of action, drama and suspense. Robberies, murder, car chases and more as the FBI and the local police chase down members of The Order. As members of The Order are stalking the police, the FBI and anyone who is getting in their way of attempting to make The Turner Diaries a reality. Jude Law did a great job as the brooding FBI agent hell bent on stopping the insanity. Nicholas Hoult was eerily sinister hiding behind the all American boy façade of Bob Mathews while plotting America’s destruction. Tye Sheridan as the local police officer caught in a moral dilemna between right and loyalty to his hometown people.

I really thought all the actors did a great job, I liked it. I thought it was really good. Scary and eye-opening knowing it was a true story and that was forty years ago. It makes you worried about the future and what is to happen to America. Thank God for the men and women out their fighting the battles in our homeland we don’t get to see if someone doesn’t make a film out of it.

So yes I liked it, I recommend it.

But know what it is, a horrifying true look at White Supremacy in America.

Strange Darling

2024   Magenta Light Studios

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  37min

Action ~ Horror ~ Suspense

Directed by:  JT Mollner

Starring:  Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, and Ed Begley Jr..

“Love hurts, love scars…Love wounds and marks, any heart not tough enough or strong enough, to take a lot of pain…….takes a lot of pain.”

I watched this last night. I was looking for something to watch more than I was looking for a movie to review. Strange Darling caught my eye on Amazon Prime. Perfect I thought…I didn’t know anything about it and had never heard of it.

WHICH IS EXACTLY HOW YOU SHOULD WATCH IT. And that is why this review will feature very little of the plot, storyline or in-depth look at the movie or the characters. Here is all I can tell you:

It is a Slasher type Horror Action Suspense Film.

The Movie Stars The Lady and The Demon.

The movie is broken into six chapters and an epilogue, in this order:

Chapter 3: “Can You Help Me, Please?” 

Chapter 5: “Here, Kitty, Kitty…” 

Chapter 1: “Mister Snuffles” (Mister Snuffleupagus)

Chapter 4: “The Mountain People” 

Chapter 2: “The Electric Lady” 

Chapter 6: “Who’s Gary Gilmore?” 

Epilogue.

The Movie starts like this:

SHOT ENTIRELY ON 35MM FILM

(IN BLACK AND WHITE) A man and a woman in a truck on a rainy night in front of a motel………… she asks, “So I have to ask you a question, are you a serial killer?”

Between 2018 and 2020, the most prolific and unique American Serial Killer of the 21st Century went on a calculated, multi-state spree that began in Denver, Colorado, continued through Grand Lake, and expanded across Wyoming and Central Idaho before culminating in the dense forest of Hood River County, Oregon.  

Drawing from police interviews, detailed accounts of eyewitnesses, depositions, and observations of various law enforcement, this is a dramatization of the true story of the final known killings in that rampage….

Then there is a killer (Pun intended) car chase…and then a woman is running in the woods from a killer, blood dripping from her wounds……as an acoustic cover of Love Hurts by Nazareth plays in the background……..

Love hurts, love scarsLove wounds and marksAny heartNot tough or strong enoughTo take a lot of pain, take a lot of painLove is like a cloudHolds a lot of rainLove hurtsOoh, ooh, love hurts

Some fools think of happinessBlissfulness, togethernessSome fools fool themselves, I guessThey’re not foolin’ me
Ooh, ooh, love hurts
AND WE START THE MOVIE WITH:
Chapter 3: “Can You Help Me, Please?” 
I absolutely enjoyed every minute of this Horrifying piece of Cinematic Slasher Art.
Willa Fitzgerald reminds me of Mia Goth in Pearl.
Kyle Gallner is creepy scary as the nice guy?
JT Mollner I am unfamiliar with but will keep an eye out for.
Turn out the lights, crank up the soundtrack and enjoy the ride…
because that is what it is.
A Horrifying Action Filled Thrill Ride
 through a Serial Killer Amusement Park.
Highly Recommended!
Love Hurts Cover by Z-Berg featured in the movie:

The Tomorrow War

2021   Amazon MGM Studios

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  2 hr  18min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Sci-Fi

Directed by:  Chris McKay

Starring:  Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J. K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Edwin Hodge, Jasmine Mathews, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and Keith Powers.

“If I have to save the world to save my daughter, then I’m damn sure gonna do that.”

In the middle of the world televised 2021 Soccer World Cup games, time travelers arrive from 2051 to deliver an urgent message: 30 years in the future mankind is losing a war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians to be transported to the future and join the fight. Determined to save the world for his daughter, Dan Forester (Chris Pratt) teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J. K. Simmons) to rewrite the planet’s fate.

That’s the synopsis from Amazon Prime’s site. Society and Governments decide after that little interruption that they need to have a worldwide draft, and help the future fight. Each service consists of a week in the future, counted down in hours by the electronic metal arm sleeve they attach. Dan Forester (Chris Pratt),one r, (inside movie joke) is drafted and leaves his wife and young daughter behind to serve his week in the future. There are two major story lines and two sub-plots here:

  1. The invasion of a deadly alien species hell bent on humanities destruction and demise.
  2. Time Travel between now and thirty years into the future.
  3. The relationship between Dan and his daughter Muri (Yvonne Strahovski)
  4. And Dan’s tumultuous relationship with his estranged father (J. K. Simmons).

I’ll be honest, I put off watching this one for awhile. I have seen the reviews and had it on my watchlist. Given the reviews I thought, “Ehh…I don’t know….I’ll save it for a rainy day or a cold winter day.” Last night was the end of a cold Winter’s day so…..I watched it last night. Sci-Fi can be tricky, it is either really good or it is at best a B-movie. It can be a fine line and The Tomorrow War straddled that line. The effects were outstanding. I loved the Alien creatures, stealthy killing machines that were fascinating to watch. Reminded me of The Creatures in the A Quiet Place Movies.

It also reminded me of Edge Of Tomorrow and Looper, because of the time travel scenario. Looper was kind of hard to follow time travel wise because of the implications of every action in the present affecting the outcome of the future. It was deep and you really had to pay attention. The Tomorrow War is not that deep, like the people that had to be transported 30 years into the future and fight, you don’t need to think about it. You just need to buckle up and experience the ride. I think the star power helped it’s cause, if there had been lesser known actors it would have fell into the B movie Sci-fi category.

I liked Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski and Sam Richardson in this. Sam had me chuckling at his character. I liked J.K. Simmons but his role wasn’t that deep or detailed. He didn’t really have much of a presence until the very end. And when the heck did J.K. Simmons get so buffed out? I remember seeing him in Red One and asking myself that question. I didn’t really find anything implausible with this movie’s time travel scenario or the movie itself, but then I wasn’t looking that hard. I went in thinking I’m just gonna turn the brain off and get lost in a movie. And I did exactly that, I got lost in it. The almost 2 and a half hours flew by

And that is exactly the kind of movie it is. You want to put down the notepad, quit analyzing, grab some popcorn and a beverage and lose yourself in the journey. That’s what this movie is, a good escape, an Action Adventure Sci-Fi thrill ride that takes you to another place and time. Dealing with things that are imaginary, outside the normal scope of our day to day.

There is a sequel in the works The 2morrow War and I would watch it to see where they take it.

It’s worth a watch on a rainy day or a cold Winter’s night.

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place Part II

A Quiet Place: Day One

Edge Of Tomorrow

Red One

Passengers

 

To Catch A Killer

2023   Vertical Entertainment

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  59min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Damián Szifron

Starring:  Shailene Woodley, Ben Mendelsohn, Jovan Adepo and Ralph Ineson.

“I’d rather be hated for who I am, than be loved for what I’m not”

Baltimore….New Year’s Eve…….a gunman kills 29 people sniper style. Eleanor Falco (Shailene Woodley) is a Baltimore Police Officer and responds to the scene. FBI Special Agent Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn) is chosen to lead the investigation into the mass murder. The next morning as he addresses the Police Department he happens to overhear Officer Falco and another officer talking about him and is surprised by what she said in response. He questions her about her comments and is surprised by her answers. Impressed with her he decides that he needs her on his special team and requests that she be allowed to be the liaison between him and the Police Department.

As they work together to track down the killer, Agent Lammark realizes that Officer Falco is a very bright and perceptive individual. Looking at her record he surmises that she is also very deeply disturbed and haunted by something in her past. And she might just be the only person that could get inside the head of the man they are searching for. Kind of like a modern day Clarice Starling from Silence Of The Lambs. They work together to hunt down the mass murderer with no clues and Officer Falco’s intuition, while they fight the bureaucratic need for a quick resolution to the city’s nightmarish scenario.

The Director Damián Szifron is a very successful Argentinian Film Director and he co-wrote this movie with Jonathon Wakeham. It is his first foray onto American Films with Vertical Entertainment picking up the movie in 2022 and changing the name from Misanthrope to To Catch A Killer. Shailene Woodley does an excellent job in this movie. I loved her character and the way she played the role. All the way through right up until the end, I was rooting for Shailene and Eleanor Falco. I am a Shailene Woodley fan, there is something different about her, the way she acts and approaches her roles.

Killer Heat was the most recent movie I saw and reviewed with her in it, liked her in that as well. HBO’s Big Little Lies was another good one she was in, as well as the Divergent series. Ben Mendelsohn also did a good job in this movie as The FBI lead man. I think they were both at the top of their game in this one. I loved the storyline as well. A mass murder with no clues, Officer Falco’s tortured psyche and intuition, the battle to find the murderer and the truth while trying to keep the bureaucrats at bay. The movie kind of flew under the radar before it landed on Netflix yesterday and is already Number one on The Netflix Top Ten Movies List.

I enjoyed it and I would watch it again……

And Yes….I recommend it.